Мадху-судан Дас Бабаджи
Madhusudana dasa Babaji was a Vaishnava. He was born to a Kulina family. He was initiated by Krishna dasa Babaji, and he himself initiated Jagannatha dasa Babaji as a Babaji. MADHUSUDANA DASA BABA: He was born in a Kulina family, he was a lover of Krsna and full of the spirit of renunciation from his early childhood. Against his wishes his parents arranged his marriage when he was a boy. On the night of his wedding he ran away from the bridal room and went to Sri Vrndavana. Not wanting to be detected by anyone he stayed secluded places. Sometimes he spent many days on the bank of the Jamuna without taking any food. One day he was sitting on the bank of the Jamuna contemplating the idea of taking initiation from some Vaisnava Mahanta. Suddenly a scion of the lineage of Gangamata came there to take his bath in the river. That Mahanta instructed Madhusudana to take bath in the Jamuna and afterwards he would initiate him. Filled with joy, Madhusudana immediately did as directed and the Mahatma initiated him into the Dasakshara (ten-lettered) mantra, explaining to him the import of the mantra. After receiving the mantra Madhusudana went into a trance. When he regained external consciousness the Mahatma had vanished before he could even ask his identity. Madhusudana began chanting the mantra and roamed from one place to another, eventually arriving at Manasi Ganga. There he took shelter at the lotus feet of Krsnadasa Babaji saying, "I am an uneducated boy, please be merciful to me and instruct me about performing bhajan. Seeing the boy's spiritual effulgence, Siddha Baba asked his identity and Madhusudana told him everything. After hearing his story Siddha Baba said, "You know that our method of performing raganuga bhajan must have its hereditary link, that link is established by knowing the lineage of your guru, but you know nothing about your guru's identity or his family. Thus you have no right to do raganuga bhajan. Yet you have been given a mantra, therefore you should not be initiated again. For these reasons I cannot teach you bhajan." At that time strict observance of the customs of the different sects was followed and no one deviated from it. Hearing Siddha Baba's words Madhusudana burst out crying. This touched the heart of Siddha Baba, who then instructed him to go to Siddha Jaykrsna Dasa Babaji of Kamyavana, who had the power to tell him about his Gurudeva's identity and lineage. Madhusudana hurried to Kamyavana and Siddha Baba listened to his story. Although he understood everything, Siddha Baba did not want to deviate from the custom of the sect and thus he said, "Brother, I am unable to understand from your account. But you should not disregard the factor of your diksa. It is clear that in the present situation you have no right to do raganuga bhajan. Go and do Harinama alone and whatever is the desire of Sri Mahaprabhu and Srimati Radharani, that will come to pass. It may be that your guru, who is the representative of God, has given you the initiation you desired, it is he who will fulfill the rest of your desire." Feeling extremely depressed Sri Madhusudana went to Radha kunda. He began to think, "If I am not entitled to do bhajan then what is the use of keeping this body alive. Tonight I will drown myself in the waters of Sri Kunda." That evening at midnight he tied a Govardhana sila around his neck and dove into the water of Sri Kunda and sank deep into the water. Suddenly, someone took off the stone from around his neck, put a piece of palm leaf in his hand and threw him on the bank of the kunda. When the morning came Madhusudana was disappointed that he had not died, but was happy to find the palm leaf in his hand. He then went to Siddha Baba of Govardhana and told him everything, except about the palm leaf. Siddha baba sent him to Siddha baba Jaykrsna of Kamyavana. Siddha Jaykrsna saw the palm leaf and said, "You have attained the extraordinary mercy of Sri Radha. Go back to Sri Kunda and pray to Sri Radha and she will not doubt fulfil you desire by bestowing her mercy upon you." Madhusudana did as instructed and, by the grace of Siddha Baba that night, Sri Radha appeared and instructed him, "Go and stay at Surya kunda and practice bhajan there, you will attain siddhi there. Do not give diksa in the mantra which has been given by me, keep it a secret throughout your life." Later in his life Madhusudana taught many disciples bhajan but he never gave mantra diksa. At a fairly advanced age Madhusudana heard that his wife was coming to meet him. Immediately he left for Govardhana and foiled his wife's attempts to meet him. Shortly afterwards Madhusudana developed a serious sore on his leg. Thinking that his death was certain he tied a piece of cloth around the sore and went to a deserted spot in the forest. When the Vaisnavas from the area realized that Madhusudana had disappeared they were all greatly distressed. As Madhusudana's affliction grew he simply chanted the name of Radharani, awaiting death. For two days he remained in that state without having a drop of water. Because he did not want to be found he chanted quietly with tears rolling down his face. Seeing his pitiful state Sri Radha, the goddess of mercy, could no longer restrain herself. She took the form of a young Vraja girl, who Madhusudana was acquainted with, and came before him in the afternoon of the third day carrying some capatis and water. Seeing him she said, "Why do you remain here in this pitiful state? I had to search everywhere to find you. You did not come for madhukari yesterday, nor the day before, thus my mother sent some for you-please take it." Madhusudana had known this girl for a long time and he replied teasingly with mock-anger, "Why do you come here? How did you know I was lying here?" The girl replied, "I keep track of everything. Now you please eat and let me go, I have some work to do." Madhusudana answered, "I won't eat these so you better take them back." Comforting Madhusudana the girl said, "My mother has instructed me to see that you finish eating everything I have brought. Everyone has to undergo one type of physical suffering or another, come and fill yourself." Hearing the soothing words of the young girl Madhusudana felt impelled to eat everything. He then warned the girl not to come again. The girl looked at him with a soft smile, then left. Sometime later Madhusudana realized that there was no pain in his body. He removed the cloth and to his amazement found that the sore was completely healed. Slowly he raised himself up and went to the house of the girl who had brought him the food. He asked the Vrajmayi of the house where her daughter was. She replied that she has been at her father-in-law's house for the last three months. Madhusudana then clearly understood the mystery and tearfully went back to his kutir. Although Madhusudana did not want this story to become known, he could not hide what had happened and thus he became known as `Siddha.' After this incident large numbers of Vaisnavas approached him for spiritual guidance. Early one morning one Babaji requested Madhusudana to explain the glories of Yogapitha. Madhusudana began explaining and gradually became so absorbed that he went into samadhi. The Vaisnavas present tried to bring him back to consciousness by performing kirtana but were unsuccessful. To this day the death anniversary of Madhusudana is celebrated at his burial site in Suryakunda. This episode, however, is narrated in a different way by Vrajvasi Vihari dasaji: In the month of Kartika (Oct-Nov) the Baba of Suryakunda, Madhusudana, once announced that he was going to recite from Bhagavatam. Hearing this the ladies of Vraja requested that he recite in Bengali and then translate into Vrajbhasa. He then began reciting from Rasapancadhyayi. The son of a low-caste man residing at Suryakunda attended the discourses given by Madhusudana daily. Seeing this several of the listeners began to criticize. On the final day of the recital that boy sat on the lap of Madhusudana and listened to the class. After some time this boy asked, "Babaji! Where did Lord Krsna take rest after Rasa? Was it at Sevakunja or at Sanket-vana? Suddenly the sound of an explosion was heard and Madhusudana passed away. His burial coti is still found in Suryakunda. (This second story was noted by Sanatana dasa, a resident of Navadvipa.)